Pea-huller



F. HAMACHEK.

PEA HULLER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 13, 1914- 1,340,607; Patented y 18, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1- F. HAMACHEK.

PEA HULLER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-13.19M-

Patented May 1&1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

F. HAMACHEK.

PEA HULITER. APPLICATION men AUG-13, 1914.

1,340,607. Patented May 18, 1920.

- 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4,

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1 r raw/vs! A W/T/VKJTEJ UNrrEn STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

FRANK HAMAGHEK, OF KEWAUNEE, WISCONSIN.

PEA-HULLER.

Application filed August 13, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, F RANK HAMAOHEK, acitizen of the United States, and resident of Kewaunee, in the county ofKewaunee and State of WVisconsin, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Pea-Hullers, of which the following is a description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to pea hullers or separators for threshing tendergreen peas on the vines as harvested, and has for its object to improvethe efliciency of the hulling beaters by making them incline forwardlywith their intermediate web portions narrower than their outer beatingedges to induce the vines and unopened pods to con tact witha greaterarea of surface of the hulling boaters.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lifting bar with amaximum amount of narrow pea sifting spaces between the parts thereofand between said parts and the walls of the screen drum. I

Another object of the invention is to improve upon the screening surfaceof the screen drum by providing such surface of an open network materialinstead of employing perforatedv sheet rubber for this purpose.

Another object of. the invention is to provide novel means for rotatablysupporting the screen drum with a minimum amount of friction.

Another object of the invention is to improve upon the construction ofthe angular roller about which the separating canvas or apron passes soas to maintain the apron centrally in position in its frame.

Another object of the invention is to improve upon the construction ofpea hullers or separators.

\Vith the above and other objects in view the invention consists in thepea huller as herein claimed and all equivalents.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like characters ofreference indicate the same parts in the different views:

Figure 1 is an end elevation, with parts sectioned, of apea hullerconstructed in accordance with this invention, the View being taken atthe feed end of the screen drum and parts unnecessary for theexplanation of the novel features being omitted;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the screen drum, its inner drum andthe heaters thereon;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1920.

Serial No. 856,523.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the screen drum and theinner drum;

Fig 4 is a sectional detail view of the end of the screen drum showingthe supporting rollers thereof;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of one of the suporting rollers forthe screen drum;

Fig. 6, 7 and 8 are detail views showing lifter bar fingers of variousshapes;

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are detail views of fragments of open mesh fabric forthe screening surface of the screen drum;

Figs. 12 and 13 are side and plan views respectively of the hullingbeaters at the receiving end of the screen drum;

Figs. 14, 15 and 16 are end, plan and side views of the hulling heatersin the intermediate part of the screen drum;

Figs. 17 and 18 are side and plan views respectively of the hullingheaters at the discharge end of the screen drum;

Figs. 19 and 20 are detail views showing the batten strips as providedwith openings and the relation of the openings to the lifting ribs orthe fingers;

Fig. 21 is a detail view showing the lifting fingers brought intoengagement with the batten strip, the openings in the batten being inalinement with the spaces between the lifting fingers;

Fig. 22 is a detail plan view from below showing a portion of theperforated batten, a portion of the transverse screen bars and the meansfor clamping the batten thereto.

In these drawings 20 indicates a frame which has rotatably mounted in ita screen drum 21 driven from a countershaft 22 by means of chains 23passing around sprocket wheels on the shaft and around sprocket teeth onboth ends of the screen drum.

Within the screen drum 21 is contained an inner drum 2 1 which ispreferably hexagonal in cross section and is mounted on a shaft 25 whichis suitably journaled in the frame and is driven in any desired mannerin the same direction as the turning of the screen drum but at a higherspeed.

Hulling heaters 26 are mounted on the inner drum 24 along the cornersthereof and are inclined or bent forwardly in the direction of rotationof the inner drum and rotate in a space inward of the innermost portionof the lifting ribs. The hulling beaters 26 are also oblique withrespect to the axis of the inner drum so as to present the edge nearerthe feeding end of the screen drum foremost and create a current of airfrom the feeding end of the drum toward the discharge end thereof. Theforwardly inclined position given to the hulling heaters in order toovercome or offset the centrifugal action of the rapidly rotatinghulling heaters in throwing the vines outwardly against the walls of thedrum and to counteract the fanning action of the hulling heaters inproducing radial currents of air which would tend to hold the vinesagainst the walls of the drum instead of permitting them to drop intocontact with the hulling heaters as desired for opening the pods andliberating the peas. The forwardly inclined position of the hullingheaters causes them to act as scoops to draw air inwardly, instead offanning it outwardly as would he the case if they were radiallypositioned or rearwardly inclined.

Instead of the sides of the forwardly advanced hulling heaters beingsubstantially parallel or tapering outwardly it is found that when madewider at their outer ends the space at the contracted sides of the hulling heaters between such broadened or laterally projecting end portionsand the inner drum induces a current of air to pass around the sides ofthe hulling heaters through such spaces and thereby draws the vinesfarther down on the face of the hulling heaters so that the pods aresubjected to a glancing blow by a greater area of surface of the hullingheaters and the efficiency of the pod opening operation thereof isconsequently increased. Without this side space the hulling heaters,even though inclined forwardly to counteract their fanning action, havetheir impact with the hulls practically confined to their extreme outeredges or a small area of surface along their outer edges because of thehigh speed of rotation of the inner drum. lVith these cutaway portionsat their sides. however, the vines are given a tendency to spread over agreater area of surface of the hulling heaters to more assuredly subjectthe unopened pods to a glancing blow from the hulling heaters and thuseffect the opening thereof and the liberation of the peas.

The degree of obliquity of the hulling heaters to the axis of rotationof the inner drum is gradually increased from the receiving end of thedrum to the discharge end thereof so as to increase the vine advancingaction of the hulling heaters as the vines approach the discharge end ofthe drum. and thus keep the vines from becoming clogged in a tangledmass within the drum.

The hulling heaters 26 preferably have the various forms illustrated inFigs. 12 to 18 inclusive, the form shown in l2 and 13 being the hullingheaters at the feed end of the drum with the long spike a at the forwardend to catch the vines as they leave the feeder, while the inclinedblade portion 6 deflects the vines inwardly to their other feedingmovement through the drum, this inclined blade portion having theundercut rear edge 0 to leave a laterally projecting rounded horn at theend of the blade por tion. The next series of hulling heaters extendingfor some distance through the drum is thus illustrated in Figs. 14, 15and 16 in which the undercut c is formed at both ends of the bladeportion to leave laterally projecting rounded horns at both ends of theinclined oblique rounded outer edge of the hulling heaters. The lastseries of hulling heaters is thus shown in Figs. 17 and 18. The horn (Zat the rear edge of the blade portion projects outwardly and rearwardlyat an incline to facilitate the casting off of the vines at thedischarge end of the drum.

The screen drum 21 is made up of the usual screen frame 27 which,instead of being covered with perforated sheet rubber as usual, has anopen mesh fabric covering 28 suitably secured thereto which may he madeof cords woven or netted with a square mesh as shown in Fig. 9, or asquare mesh of diagonal cords as shown in Fig". 11, or a diamond-shapedmesh of diagonal cords as shown in Fig. 10. This construction of thesieve surface forming the wall of the screen drum constitutes animprovement over the perforated sheet rubber construction heretoforeemployed as it affords a greater number of openings through which thepeas may pass and is stronger and more flexible and more easily keptclean. The sieves now in general use are made of sheet rubber, but theholes which are punched therethrough are necessarily made quite farapart in order that the screen may be strong enough to stand the strainof the weight of the vines and the comparatively large area ofunperforated surface impairs the sifting capacity thereof and the sieveis easily clogged by the accumulation of mud at the perforations whenthe vines are wet. i have experimented with sheet metal screens ithedges turned over and also with screens made of woven wire rolled smoothon the inner side and galvanized. but neither of these were satisfactoryinasmuch as they damaged the tender peas to some extent. The presentconstruction of woven or netted open mesh fabric made of cord or twinebeing more flexible than the sheet rubber screen will be given a greaterlateral motion by the vines striking thereagainst and will thus tend tobe kept free from obstruction by adhering dirt. The sieve, while thusbeing naturally self cleaning, is capable of being washed in the usualway.

While the screen fabric may be used with the lines of its meshcorresponding with the lines of the drum so that square openings areprovided with their sides parallel with the ends of the drum, it may befound desirable to arrange the fabric on the bias so that the squareopenings will be diagonally arranged with respect to the drum asaffording a better opportunity for the loose peas to pass through. 'Alsoit may be preferred to make the screen fabric of a diamond mesh, bystretching it before fastening it in place as shown in Fig. 10, to givethe openings a greater length in their direction of travel, andpermitting them to be large without allowing the pods to pass through.

The shape of the openings of the screen fabric or net of soft, pliablestrands of fibrous cord may be varied by stretching the net .more orless before fastening it to the frames 27, and such frames and theirfastening means, which may be tacks, staples, pegs or the like,constitute means for maintaining the shape of the screen openings andsupporting the screen fabric.

Another feature of the present invention is a novel construction of thelifting ribs which are in the form of a rib member 29 connected with thetwo end rings of the drum by means of socket brackets 34.. This ribmember may be of any shape in cross section but it is preferablybeveled, as

shown, with the beveled surfaces toward the screens 28, and has a seriesof outwardly extending fingers 30 thereon arranged parallel with eachother with a narrow space there between and terminating before reachingthe wall of the drum so as to leave a pas sage between the rib and thescreens for the peas to pass through. The ends of the fingers arepreferably beveled as shown, but they may have square ends as shown inFig. 8. The space between the ends of the fingers of the lifting rib andthe walls of the drum, forms a longitudinal opening extending lengthwiseof the drum and located at the outer ed es of the lifting ribs and thislongitudina space, as well as the space between the fingers, permits theliberated peas to pass through while the vines and pods are lifted bythe lifting ribs, thus enabling the peas to become more readilyseparated and discharged through the openings in the walls of the drumand avoiding their injury by being unnecessarily thrown into the rangeof the hulling beaters. The lifting rib, comprising the rib member 29and its outwardly extending spaced fingers which terminate beforereaching the walls of the drum, con tains a series of paralleltransverse openings or spaces between the fingers communicating withlongitudinal spaces between the outer ends of the fingers and the wallof the drum. The presence of the longitudinal openings assists thetransverse openings in their sifting operation of sifting the loose peasfrom the vines and chaff while lifting the latter to drop them in thepath of the hulling beaters by preventing to a large extent the closingof the transverse openings by the accumulations of mud and dirt andchaff in the valleys between the sifting screens at the outer edge ofthe lifting ribs. With these longitudinal openings the particles of dirtsliding over the surface of the walls of the drum may freely passbeneath the lifting ribs through such longitudinal openings withoutadhering to the lifting ribs and obstructing the sifting openingsthereof. The present lifting rib construction with longitudinal openingswill, therefore, not require cleaning as frequently as lifting ribs withtransverse openings only, as shown in my issued Patent No. 1,153,304,and when cleaning is necessary the longitudinal openings facilitate thecleaning operation by enabling a brush or scraper to be movedlongitudinally of the drum between the lifting rib and the drum wall toquickly remove the ad hering obstruction. Preferably, though notnecessarily, some of the fingers 30 may have extensions 31 reaching tothe strips 32 which form a part of the drum wall or the drum frame andtowhich the screens 28 are bolted, and bolts 33 may pass through suchfingers and their extensions and the strips 32 as well as the rib member29, as shown in Fig. 6, this connection serving to strengthen the drumstructure as well as to stiffen the lifting rib. p

The construction of the screen drum is such that it is of considerableweight and when in operation the vines within the drum add materially toits weight.

Furthermore the lifting of the vines by means of the lifting ribs on oneside of the drum as the drum rotates, serves to shift the center ofgravity of the drum to that side and in. order that this may not affectits stability the rollers 35 are spaced far apart. This, however,increases the tendency of the drum to wedge between them and in order toovercome this tendency I provide at each end a large flanged bearingroller 36 beneath the supporting roller 35 on one side of the drum forrelieving the supporting rollers of the weight of the drum to a largeextent. The supporting roller 35 and the bearing roller 36 are mountedon an angular bracket 37 which fits around two sides of the upright ofthe frame and is slightly adj ustable thereon to position the supportingand bearing rollers nearer to or farther from the bearing roller on theother side which is similarly mounted in an angular bracket 38 to beadjustable in a like manner. These brackets 37 and 38 are made angularto fit against adjacent sides of the uprights of the f "nine in orderthat the alinement of the rollers may be preserved.

Another feature of the invention is the construction of the upper drumof the sep-.

arating belt 39 which is mounted in an inclined position beneath thescreen drum as usual to convey the chaff and dirt falling from thescreen drum upwardly while the peas roll downwardly thereon. This upperdrum of the separating belt is triangular in cross section, and insteadof the edges thereof being formed of strips of wood as heretofore theyare formed by metal rods or pipes 40 connecting the spiders or frames 41at the ends of the drum. With the drums as heretofore used with woodenstrips the feed of the apron could not be made permanently uniform atboth ends on account of the difference in the degree of frictionalengagement between the strips and the apron causing the apron to creeptoward one side. This has also been caused by the difierence in wear ofthe wooden strips on account of the knots or harder grain at one endthan at the other end, the tendency of the apron being to creep towardthe end which is high and as this apron is of a width equal to thelength of the screen drum, a tendency to creep to one side will verysoon ruin it. lVith the metal drum rods there is no in equality in wearof the two ends of the drum and the frictional resistance remains thesame, so that there is no tendency for the belt to creep.

It is found that the bearings of the supporting rollers become gummedfrom the juices of the pea vines so that the rollers offer a greatamount of resistance to the turning of the drum. I have, therefore,provided the supporting rollers with a bear.- ing designed to rid itselfof the objectionable gummy substance forming therein. The brackets 37and 38 have bearing pins 42 fixed in them by means of set screws 43, andnear their projecting ends they are provided with roller bearings 44 asseen in Fig. 5. An inclined passageway 45 passes through the end of thebearing pin 42 to the cavity of the roller bearing 44 and an opening isprovided through the hub of the supporting roller and is normally closedby a screw plug 46. \Vith a bearing of this type it is only necessary toinject oil through the inclined passageway 45 to the cavity of theroller bearing and then by removing the screw plug 46 from the openingin the hub of the roller and starting the machine the gummy substancewithin the bearing which has been cut by the .oil will be thrown outthrough said opening in the hub and thus clean the bearing. The screwplug 46 nor mally remains in place to prevent the loss of lubricanttherethrough, but is removed whenever it is desired to clean thebearing.

In Figs. 19 and 20 I have shown a modification wherein the batten strips32 are pro vided with openings 50. These openings may bein alinementwith the narrow spaces between the fingers 30 or in alinement with thefingers and serve the purpose of permitting the peas to passdirectly-through the batten strips which form a part of the wall of thedrum. These openings furthermore are beneficial since they afford anopportunity to clean the lifting ribs by inserting a metal rod throughthe openings and scraping the adhering mud and dirt from the variousparts of the lifting ribs; The longitudinal openings of the lifting ribsbesides serving to retard obstruction of .the transverse openings by.adhering accumu lations of mud and dirt and chaff, and besidesfacilitating the cleaning away of such obstructions, enable the battenstrips 32 to become part of the screening surface, their openings 50permitting the peas to pass through even at points in alinement with thefingers 30 of the lifting ribs. Vith that form of lifting rib in whichthe fingers are brought into engagement with the batten strips 32, asshown in Fig. 21 the openings 50 are formed only in alinement with thenarrow spaces between the fingers.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a pea separator, a hulling beater comprising a blade forwardlyinclined in the direction of rotationand having its widest portion atthe outer edge.

2. In a pea separator, a hulling beater comprising a blade inclinedforwardly in the direction of rotation thereof and also inclined in thedirection of travel of the material through the pea separator, saidblade having its widest portion at the outer edge thereof.

3. In a pea separator, a hulling beater comprising a blade inclinedforwardly in the direction of rotation thereof with a straight outeredge and side edges converging after leaving the outer edge to formundercut spaces at the sides of the blade through which air may pass todraw the vines down on the blades.

4. In a pea separator, a hulling beater inclined forwardly in itsdirection of travel and provided with recesses at its sides throughwhich air may pass to draw the vines farther down onto the hullingbeater.

5. In a pea separator, a lifting rib comprising a cross bar withoutwardly extending fingers, a sieve drum, and means for securing thelifting rib to the drum with the ends of the fingers spaced from thewalls of the drum.

6. In a pea separator, a lifting rib com prising a rib member,projections at the outer edge of the rib member forming parallelfingers, and means for mounting the lifting rib within a drum to spacethe ends of the fingers away from the walls of the drum.

7. In a pea separator, a lifting rib comprising a rib member havingprojections on dim its outer edge forming parallel fingers, andextensions on the ends of some of the fingers forming spacing lugs forholding the ends of the fingers away from the walls of the drum.

8. In a pea separator, a lifting rib comprising a rib member, socketsfitting on the ends of the rib member and adapted for connection withthe ends of the screen drum, and projections on the outer edge of therib member with their ends terminating before reaching the wall of thedruin.

9. In a pea separator, a drum, a frame, supporting rollers mounted onthe frame and engaging the drum near the sides thereof, and a bearingroller engaging the drum between the supporting rollers.

10. In a pea separator, a frame, a screen drum, angular bracketsadjustably secured to the uprights of the frame and fitting around thecorners of said uprights, supporting rollers mounted on the brackets,and a bearing roller mounted on one of the brackets and engaging thedrum between the supporting rollers.

11. In a pea separator drum, screen-covered frames forming part of thewall of the drum and having their edges spaced apart, a batten stripforming part of the wall of the drum extending across the space betweenthe screen frames and provided with perforations to allow the peas topass therethrough, and lifting ribs spaced from the batten strips toallow the peas to pass between them and the batten strips.

12. A pea separator drum, comprising screen frames forming part of thewall of the drum, batten strips inclosing the space between the edges ofadjacent screen frames and provided with openings therethrough, andfingered lifting ribs having spaces between their fingers in alinementwith openings in the batten strips.

13. In a pea separator drum, screen frames forming part of the wall ofthe drum and spaced apart to form slots between them, perforated battenstrips also forming a part of the wall of the drum and covering theslots between the screen frames, and lifting ribs secured within thedrum and comprising rib members with outwardly extending fingers spacedfrom the batten strips.

14. In a pea separator, an inner drum, and a hulling beater thereon withits widest portion at its outer edge.

15. In a pea separator, an inner drum, and a hulling beater thereonprovided with recesses at its sides through which air may pass to drawthe vines farther down onto the hulling beater.

16. A pea separator drum, comprising screen frames forming part of thewall of the drum, batten strips covering the space between the edges ofadjacent screen frames and provided with openings, and lifting ribsspaced from the batten strips to allow peas to pass between them andthrough the openings.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK HAMACHEK.

Witnesses:

R. S. C. CALDWELL, MARGARET FORRESTAL.

